Muddy Streamshttps://muddystreams.wordpress.com
a blog about the converging streams of spiritualityFri, 01 Apr 2016 18:24:28 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngMuddy Streamshttps://muddystreams.wordpress.com
When the Crickets Stop Singing…https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/04/21/in-the-end/
https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/04/21/in-the-end/#commentsTue, 21 Apr 2015 20:15:22 +0000http://muddystreams.wordpress.com/?p=4812]]>After being a cricket chirping in the reeds for years, this is the 1,000th chirp from the Muddy Streams swampland, and quite possibly the last. We could write and read and talk about the muddy streams of spiritual convergence all day, but there are more important things to do. Can you hear the winds of change blowing in the reeds? A storm is coming, it’s time to get ready.

Get Right With God . . .

The Only Hope in The Coming Storm!

]]>https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/04/21/in-the-end/feed/9the olives“How can I be saved?”https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/04/18/how-can-i-be-saved/
https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/04/18/how-can-i-be-saved/#respondSat, 18 Apr 2015 12:03:22 +0000http://muddystreams.wordpress.com/?p=4810]]>There will always be charlatans and wolves and false teachers in this world, trying to get you to cross over the bridge of compromise and join them. From the beginning of time, there has been a LIE and a TRUTH available for ALL to choose. But time is running out, and there is only One way, One truth, One choice…. to save you from an eternal darkness you cannot see or fathom. What you choose in this lifetime will determine your eternal destination. It is the most important decision you will ever make. Will you be saved?

Question: “How can I be saved?”

Answer: This simple, yet profound, question is the most important question that can be asked. “How can I be saved?” deals with where we will spend eternity after our lives in this world are over. There is no more important issue than our eternal destiny. Thankfully, the Bible is abundantly clear on how a person can be saved. The Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). Paul and Silas responded, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

How can I be saved? Why do I need to be saved?
We are all infected with sin (Romans 3:23). We are born with sin (Psalm 51:5), and we all personally choose to sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; 1 John 1:8). Sin is what makes us unsaved. Sin is what separates us from God. Sin is what has us on the path to eternal destruction.

How can I be saved? Saved from what?
Because of our sin, we all deserve death (Romans 6:23). While the physical consequence of sin is physical death, that is not the only kind of death that results from sin. All sin is ultimately committed against an eternal and infinite God (Psalm 51:4). Because of that, the just penalty for our sin is also eternal and infinite. What we need to be saved from is eternal destruction (Matthew 25:46; Revelation 20:15).

‘A fake and a charlatan’: Doctors call for Dr. Oz to be dismissed from Columbia surgery faculty over alleged quack science
BY LARRY MCSHANE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Dr. Oz doesn’t walk or talk like a duck — but 10 prominent critics say he’s still a quack.
The group of nationally known doctors, in a lacerating letter to his boss, called for the TV doctor’s dismissal from the prestigious post of vice chairman of Columbia University’s department of surgery.
“He’s a quack and a fake and a charlatan,” said Dr. Henry Miller of Stanford, the first person to sign the poison-pen letter.

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Columbia University has not removed TV celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz from his faculty position as a group of top doctors has demanded, citing his “egregious lack of integrity” for promoting what they call “quack treatments.”
“Dr. Oz has repeatedly shown disdain for science and for evidence-based medicine,” said a letter the 10 physicians sent to a Columbia dean earlier this week. They say he’s pushing “miracle” weight-loss supplements with no scientific proof that they work. . .

According to the second article, Oz has been putting money first. Doctors say that Oz “has manifested an egregious lack of integrity by promoting quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain.”

Who can forget Oz’s business partnership with Rick Warren and his purpose driven church and the slick marketing of The Daniel Plan? Was there a quack at Saddleback? Was this muddy mixture of religion and health being used by both for fame and financial gain? Many would say these two men have much in common. Another question might be, who was using whom?

“Such is the state of the professing Christian Church in 2015, weak, powerless, and effeminate. Elton John, the man who has worn more wigs and dresses than Marilyn Monroe, we expect this from. But Rick Warren claims to be a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here was his perfect opportunity to lovingly and graciously tell not only Elton John, but all of Congress that without being born again they will die and go to a Devil’s Hell. But instead, he holds hands with a gay man, and jokes about kissing him. It was a joke, right?”

Answer: When we are born again, we receive the Holy Spirit who seals us for the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30). Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would lead us “into all truth” (John 16:13). Part of that truth is taking the things of God and applying them to our lives. When that application is made, the believer then makes a choice to allow the Holy Spirit to control him/her. True Christian spirituality is based upon the extent to which a born-again believer allows the Holy Spirit to lead and control his or her life.

Answer: Before we explore the difference between religion and spirituality, we must first define the two terms. Religion can be defined as “belief in God or gods to be worshipped, usually expressed in conduct and ritual” or “any specific system of belief, worship, etc., often involving a code of ethics.” Spirituality can be defined as “the quality or fact of being spiritual, non-physical” or “predominantly spiritual character as shown in thought, life, etc.; spiritual tendency or tone.” To put it briefly, religion is a set of beliefs and rituals that claim to get a person in a right relationship with God, and spirituality is a focus on spiritual things and the spiritual world instead of physical/earthly things.

The most common misconception about religion is that Christianity is just another religion like Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, etc. Sadly, many who claim to be adherents of Christianity do practice Christianity as if it were a religion . . .

]]>https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/what-is-the-difference-between-religion-and-spirituality/feed/0the olivesBridge from east to west spiritually influences MCUSAhttps://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/04/14/bridge-from-east-to-west-spiritually-influences-mcusa/
https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/04/14/bridge-from-east-to-west-spiritually-influences-mcusa/#respondTue, 14 Apr 2015 13:25:29 +0000http://muddystreams.wordpress.com/?p=4804]]>What does the spiritual bridge from east to west have to do with anti-Israel resolutions and same sex resolutions in the Mennonite Church USA denomination?

Ruth Haley Barton, founder of The Transforming Centre[1], was trained at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation which teaches: “This mystical stream [contemplative prayer] is the Western bridge to Far Eastern spirituality … It is no accident that the most active frontier between Christian and Eastern religions today is between contemplative Christian monks and their Eastern equivalents.” —Tilden Edwards, Shalem Founder[2]

Barton, who could not find peace or direction in her Baptist roots or through reading the Bible and praying, found fulfillment through spiritual direction. Now she incorporates a blend of Eastern and Roman Catholic contemplative spirituality and monastic practices in her retreats and books on practicing the presence of God in the silence and sacred rhythms of prayer. Lately she has been very instrumental in leading entire Protestant and Anabaptist church congregations and their leaders into these same practices through spiritual direction and discernment seminars. . .

]]>https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/04/14/bridge-from-east-to-west-spiritually-influences-mcusa/feed/0the olivesIs a Storm Coming? [UPDATED]https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/04/10/is-a-storm-coming/
https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/04/10/is-a-storm-coming/#respondFri, 10 Apr 2015 15:26:38 +0000http://muddystreams.wordpress.com/?p=4800]]>Have the muddy streams of spiritual convergence with Christianity (mixed with the new tolerance and political correctness) been the recipe for perfect peace . . . or the final perfect storm? Watch and read and pray.

]]>https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/04/10/is-a-storm-coming/feed/0the olivesEnd of the Hour of Power Erahttps://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/04/02/end-of-the-hour-of-power-era/
https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/04/02/end-of-the-hour-of-power-era/#respondThu, 02 Apr 2015 17:05:38 +0000http://muddystreams.wordpress.com/?p=4795]]>It’s the end of an era that began a great compromise.

“I apologize to Islam for the Christian Crusades of 1065, let us begin a new crusade of comrade and friendship, we are in the same camp. . . . I have never met a man of such spirituality and wisdom as that of your father. He is a spiritual giant”
–Robert Schuller, TV Minister to the son of the openly pro-HAMAS/Hezbollah Grand Mufti of Syria, during his televised “Hour of Power” TV preaching[1]

“I was touched with him, spiritually moved by him, and I came back with a profound affection and love for him. I think it was the spirit of Jesus in him and the spirit of Jesus in me, that’s where we were able to make a connection.”
-Robert Schuller, speaking about the former Grand Mufti of Syria[2]

Whether it was the spirit of Jesus or the spirit of another[3] that empowered the infamous hour of error era, in today’s news. . .

]]>https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/04/02/end-of-the-hour-of-power-era/feed/0the olivesA New Age Shadow over Shadow Mountain Church?https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/03/24/a-new-age-shadow-over-shadow-mountain-church/
https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2015/03/24/a-new-age-shadow-over-shadow-mountain-church/#commentsTue, 24 Mar 2015 03:48:48 +0000http://muddystreams.wordpress.com/?p=4793]]>It has come to light that Mark Burnett and Roma Downey asked David Jeremiah to partner with them in telling the story of the early church in the Book of Acts. They recently appeared at Shadow Mountain Community Church. Read about it here:

This appears to be a convergence of Christianity with New Age and occultic spirituality. Roma Downey has been on television with psychic Jonathan Edwards talking to her deceased mother, partnered with him in a book he wrote, and listens to books on tape by new ager Eckart Tolle.

Christians around the world observe the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity each January. This year the Week fell on the 18th to the 25th, and I joined more than 100 other people, representing about a dozen congregations, at the Unity not Uniformity, Diversity not Division conference held on the 16th and 17th, organized by three Protestant congregations in Richmond.
Jonathan Coutts of Richmond Alliance Church (Christian & Missionary Alliance), Micah Smith of Emmanuel Christian Community (independent, with Brethren and charismatic renewal roots) and Albert Chu of The Tapestry (Christian Reformed) co-sponsored the conference.
The keynote speaker was Gordon Smith, President of Ambrose University (Alliance and Nazarene) in Calgary.
The conference centred on three presentations by Smith who outlined an Evangelical Protestant case for an ecumenism that includes Catholics and other mainline traditions. He began with an appeal to Scripture, explaining that the New Testament everywhere teaches there is only one Church and that this truth is foregrounded the most in Ephesians. . .

Keynote speaker Gordon T. Smith (previously Vice President and Dean of Regent College), is the new president of Ambrose University College Seminary. The college is a merger of the Christian & Missionary Alliance (Canada) with The Church of the Nazarene (Canada). Smith has written several books. The Voice of Jesus, is built on Roman Catholic spiritual traditions of John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, and Ignatius of Loyola. Alone With The Lord is a self guided prayer plan adapted from The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits.